Providential Peripety[1]

None of Haman’s plans had involved honoring Mordecai, and he certainly did not plan on being hanged on the very gallows he constructed. Life comes at us fast, but eternity even faster. The problem for many in our world is that death is not something for which they are prepared or are preparing. What Haman was most concerned about was not, in reality, most important. He bought into the lie that many fall for in our day—that life is all about making our own names great and being honored. But as he most likely is well aware of at this moment, life is not about our gaining honor but our giving honor, especially to the one to whom highest honor is due. The world does not revolve around us, but it does revolve just as the Lord tells it to because he is the center of all things. We should join with the psalmist who beckons us to . . .

Sing a new song to the Lord;

let the whole earth sing to the Lord.

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

proclaim his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his wondrous works among all peoples.

For the Lord is great and is highly praised;

he is feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;

bring an offering and enter his courts.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;

let the whole earth tremble before him.

Say among the nations: “The Lord reigns.

The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.

He judges the peoples fairly.”

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;

let the sea and all that fills it resound.

Let the fields and everything in them celebrate.

Then all the trees of the forest will shout for joy

before the Lord, for he is coming—

for he is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness

and the peoples with his faithfulness. (Ps 96)

Did you notice in 6:1-14 that the only mention of Esther was in regard to the second feast she prepared? Did you also notice that what Mordecai experienced was not the result of some grand plan he designed or something he was working to achieve? So, if Esther was not leading the charge and Mordecai was not calling for change, who was in control? You know the answer, don’t you? Prime asserts, “When it seems God is not active, he may be most at work. He may be most present when he seems most hidden” (Unspoken Lessons, 103). God always has perfect timing. While Esther and Mordecai were sleeping, God was working. How many things does the Lord do for us while we rest at night? Probably the same amount of things he does for us when we are awake but unaware. Esther 6 is such a great reminder that he is God and we are not. Jobes notes,

Our God is so great, so powerful, that he can work without miracles through the ordinary events of billions of human lives through millennia of time to accomplish his eternal purposes and ancient promises. God delivered an entire race of people in Persia because the king had a sleepless night, because a man would not bow to his superior, because a woman found herself taken to the bedroom of a ruthless man for a night of pleasure. How inscrutable are the ways of the Lord! (Esther, 159)

For those of us who grew up going to youth camps in the late nineties or working in them soon after, there is probably a good chance we have either performed or seen “The Champion” skit set to Carmen’s song no less than a thousand times. I exaggerate, but only slightly. For years this skit was a staple option for youth groups hoping to be in the weekly camp variety show or who needed a dramatic presentation in the yearly Youth Night Service at a local church. Despite its overuse my favorite part of the song/skit never fails to move me each time I hear or see it. At what seems to be an incredible moment of defeat for Christ, his body is laid in a tomb. At this point a countdown is initiated beginning with the number ten. As the countdown decreases toward zero, the audience hears the panicked questions and anxiety from a voice representing Satan. His “victory” is short-lived as Christ triumphantly rises from death and renders it defeated. All this is marked in the song/skit with crescendo and celebration (and for those churches with fancy budgets, even special lighting).

Of course, the best we have to offer in way of portraying this monumental event in the history of the world and redemption pales in comparison to the actual resurrection of Christ. What a breathtaking moment indeed! All hope seemed lost. Satan, no doubt, was convinced that though he had failed to wipe out the messianic line, he had done something even greater and taken out the Messiah. Little did he know or understand that all of his schemes were simply accomplishing God’s providential plan to save a people for his own name’s sake. There is no greater reversal. Both Satan’s and death’s celebrations quickly turned to eternal defeat as Christ our Victor crushed the grave and rose victoriously. The irony is palpitating.

In Susa, as at the cross, the whole time Satan is carrying out the plans he believes will guarantee his dominion, he is ultimately contributing to his own destruction. Nothing went as Satan’s minion Haman planned it or thought it would turn out but exactly as the Lord planned all along.

In Richie Duchon’s article about an embarrassing pageant incident, he says, “I have to apologize. Those are the words Miss Universe host Steve Harvey was forced to utter—and may regret for years to come—after mistakenly crowning Miss Colombia . . . as the winner” of the Miss Universe pageant in 2015 (“Host Steve Harvey Botches”). Not unlike what would occur at the Oscars two years later, the wrong person was announced as the winner. Unlike Beatty and Dunaway, though, Harvey had left the stage and had to come back out to right the wrong. Also, unlike Beatty and Dunaway, Harvey had the right card but did not read the right name. To his credit, he owned up to his mistake. But that did not make it any less awkward when the crown was taken off of the head of Miss Colombia and put on that of Miss Philippines.

As we consider all the reversals in the book of Esther, I want to end this particular discussion by assuring you that Christ’s crown will never be removed and his victory will never be reversed. Paul writes to the church at Corinth,

Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death. For God has put everything under his feet. Now when it says “everything” is put under him, it is obvious that he who puts everything under him is the exception. When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Cor 15:24-28)

Jesus reigns over all rule, all authority, and all power. He will one day abolish death forever. The only reversal coming is when sin’s curse and the effects of the fall are forever removed and the new heaven and new earth are revealed. All of this will be done so that God may be all in all. When every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord, it will be “to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11).

Because Christ is our Victor forever, we can know as well that his promises to us will never be reversed. As Jesus told a crowd one day in the temple,

My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30)

As Jesus once told an anxious father, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe” (Mark 5:36). Even when you cannot see him, hear him, or feel him, God is alive, awake, and accomplishing his purposes for your good and his glory.